Using the Right Tool for the Job

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” - Abraham Maslow

Working
at IKB I have been fortunate enough to have been given a wonderful arsenal of
tools at my disposal. AutoCAD for fine
details, Revit for comprehensive projects, Rhino for organic forms, and
Photoshop for last minute image manipulations.

These
tools can create a cohesive workflow that all begin with the same nutritional
source: an idea. This idea can come in
the form of a sketch, reference image, or even hand gesture. In my experience, a typical workflow looks
something like this:

The
tricky part, I find, is choosing the right program for the job. Yes, AutoCAD can get you a complete set of CD
drawings, but what happens when you have a series of changes you know will
inevitably come? You have then created a
time sink. A situation of changing every
drawing multiple times, over and over again.
This project sounds like it wants to be done in Revit, where changes can
be made on the fly, and the result can be seen throughout the entire file.

A single vent component seen in 3D, Plan, and Section,
through Revit

What if you are given a complicated
detail that needs to be drawn quickly in 2D for a consultant? Do you put time into making a 3D model,
cutting a section, making it 2D? No,
send that task to AutoCAD.

An intricate wall section, ideal for AutoCAD

What if a client is asking for a
parametrically designed wall installation, with undulating organic forms, what
then? Revit would take days, and AutoCAD
may be near impossible. I’m thinking
Rhino, with maybe a dash of Grasshopper thrown in the mix.

An
organic parametric design from Rhino and Grasshopper

What
I’ve learned, is something I stubbornly chose to ignore when my father told me
so many years ago: “Use the right tool for the job.”

All these programs are powerful
assets to us. None better or worse than
the last. It’s on us as architects to
apply them correctly and bring out their full potential.